The construction of a three-storey shopping centre, located in Peoples Square near Yangon's landmark Shwedagon Pagoda, is nearing completion according to sources working on the project.
A Chinese company named Natural World is
building the shopping mall, after getting the approval from the Yangon
City Development Committee (YCDC). Critics have slammed the YCDC for
letting for allowing a shopping mall to be built in a public area so
close to the sacred pagoda.
"A shopping centre in the People’s Square
shouldn’t be built. If they want to build one, built it on the private
land. Besides, the square is located on the foot of Shwedagon Pagoda.
Use of lands around the Shwedagon pagoda becomes required to be closely
looked these days," said Moh Moh Lwin, a director of Yangon Heritage
Trust.
Natural World has rented 60 percent of
the land in the 100-acre People’s Square. The square is a public park
situated in front of the western stairway of the Shwedagon Pagoda, one
of Buddhism's most revered sacred sites. The three-storey shopping
centre plans to sell traditional handicrafts and other souvenirs to
foreign tourists visiting the Shwedagon Pagoda, according to YCDC.
"The shopping mall shouldn’t be accepted
from the beginning. It blocks the view of pagoda from the People’s
Square. Moreover, it shouldn’t built on the public land. Why such
building was approved is a question. Besides, many beer-selling
restaurants, which are not related with public relaxation, are open in
the park," said a town-planning expert from Yangon.
source: Eleven Myanmar
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